The Usual
by Donteatacowman
Summary: It was one of Danny's many late nights on patrol. He was alone--no Sam or Tucker to crack jokes, no adrenaline rush to make him feel alive. It was just as well; sometimes Danny didn't want to feel alive. Sometimes, he wanted to be a ghost. Oneshot.


_Disclaimer: I don't own "Danny Phantom."_

_A/N: Beta'd by the excellent Cordria!  
_  
"Night, Sweetie!" the voice of Danny's mother called from behind his bedroom door.

Danny rolled his eyes. His mom always had to say goodnight to him before lights out. He would have protested that he wasn't a kid anymore and she didn't need to do it, but he figured it would be futile, since she probably had the ulterior motive of making sure he was going to bed on time. It was a valid reason, considering how he often broke other rules of the household (curfew among them). "Night, Mom," he called back.

He didn't stir until he heard her feet padding away from his bedroom to her own. Even then, he waited until he was sure she and the rest of the family were asleep before he shoved his covers away from his body. For a minute, he paused. The room was cold and dark; his bed was warm and soft. Danny pondered climbing back inside to sleep until morning; instead he shook his head and went ghost. Immediately the room seemed less chilled and harsh and more soothingly cool, due to his body temperature being significantly lowered. He smiled as his eyes flashed green. No, he wouldn't sleep tonight. It didn't matter; he wasn't tired anymore anyway.

He ignored the Fenton Thermos stuffed under the floorboards around his bed. He really should've brought it... he let the thought trail off. Bringing it meant staying solid the entire night to keep a grip on the Thermos in case of a ghost fight. He decided he could come back to get it if the situation warranted.

Hovering on air, Danny went to his window, passing through it. The glass cut his insides, but he was incorporeal; he felt no pain, just a tingling as he phased outside and was instantly blasted by a howling wind. He glanced around him as the wind whistled in his ears. The stars were covered by clouds, he noticed with a pang of disappointment. One of the best parts of his job was flying under the open night sky! He'd have no such luck tonight. The moon was nowhere to be seen, and the only light came from the few flickering streetlamps that still stood despite numerous ghost attacks and rampages over the past year or two. It was the kind of night when humans might shudder in their sleep, not knowing the reason; when bumps would sound in their hallways and trees would scrape at windows like claws; and when the creeping fear of the few who were awake would be magnified into terror. It was a haunted sort of night. Danny smirked. Perfect. He let his form dissolve into mist and be pulled by the current of the wind, sweeping through houses and streets as if he were a force of nature himself.

He would have brought Sam and Tucker with him, he reflected as his bodiless spirit passed over their houses. They livened up a boring night patrol with jokes and playful bickering, and their friendship always warmed him up on a cold evening. But he was a ghost as much as he was a human. Warmth and life tired him out after a while. Sometimes he needed the relief of letting himself drift like the phantom he was.

Sam and Tucker were completely human. They needed sleep, a lot more than Danny did. Thing is, ghosts don't sleep. Danny slept a little of course, but he was a special case, being half of each. Anyway, if he slept all night, what would he do during Lancer's history class?

Most nights he needed to be out there on patrol. He would run into Skulker or Technus or the Box Ghost and he'd have to fight them in an epic battle as he learned a moral along the way. Standard superhero stuff. Not tonight, though. He, Sam, and Tucker had just finished fighting off a massive ghost invasion last week, so he was sure there wouldn't be any more ghosts around Amity for a while since they were all still recuperating. But there was always the what-ifs that ran through his mind. _What if we're wrong? What if there's a new ghost out there? What if there was something I could have done to protect someone and didn't because I was home in bed? What if, what if, what if?_ So here he was.

Truthfully, he enjoyed quiet nights like these immensely. No, he didn't get a ghost-fighting adrenaline rush, but there was something calming about a night spent wandering around town, looking for something that wasn't there, and having a chance to just think about life.

After another loop around Amity Park, he decided it was about time to go home. It was getting late, er, early! Before he headed that way, however, there was one more thing he needed to check up on. He stopped above a large house and dropped through the roof. Sam's mansion sure looked small from above, Danny thought, though once he was inside it was another story. He had no trouble navigating the house, though, having long since memorized which rooms Sam tended to hang out in.

Still made of nothing but ectoplasmic mist, Danny phased through Sam's door and took in the ornate room before him. It was covered in black and red and purple and had indie band posters plastered all over the walls. Danny let his form solidify into his Danny Phantom persona as he grinned. Grey lit candles, Oriental paper lamps, fake spider webs, and a keyboard on the floor: the room screamed Sam's personality no matter where he looked! Tearing his eyes away from the decorations, he focused on Sam, sleeping peacefully on her elaborately goth queen-sized bed.

Danny beamed. She was okay! It wasn't like he had any reason to think she wasn't, but with all the ghost attacks, he could never be sure.

Sam turned around and murmured in her sleep. Danny's face turned red. He could imagine quite vividly what she would do to him if she knew he had been skulking around her room at night. It was very unpleasant and involved combat boots, spikes, a Specter-Deflector, and the Booooomerang. He knew because she had threatened him with this... many times.

Ducking out her window, Danny rose into the sky, which was much clearer now than when the night had begun. The sun was rising behind Sam's house in a brilliant display of orange, pink, and red. Morning. He stopped to admire the sight for approximately 3.2 seconds before it hit him. _Morning_!

He flew to his bedroom at a speed which, he would have claimed, narrowly avoided breaking the sound barrier. Turning human, Danny dropped into bed and pulled the sheets around his shoulders just as his alarm began to blare in his ears. He heaved a sigh of relief. _Made it._

Immediately a familiar pounding began at his door. "Danny!" Jazz shouted. "Mom says it's time to get up. And so help me, if you don't get up right away this time I'll call Sam and make sure she follows through on those threats she's always giving you!" Danny tuned his raving sister out as he dressed himself. He pushed open the door and, unperturbed albeit a little blasé, walked past his sister on his way to brush his teeth.

Jazz cut herself off mid-rant, remembering Danny's usual pre-dawn activities. Her tone turned to one of practiced sympathy as she followed her little brother into the bathroom. "Late night?"

"Nah," Danny said around a mass of toothpaste bubbles, then spat into the sink. He thought for a moment, then smiled. "Just the usual."


End file.
